Chapter 1019: Hatred Caused By Love
The princess instantly opened her eyes the moment Li Qiye came over. Her expression quickly changed upon seeing him. Even though she was once renowned across the nine worlds, her emotions still surged at this time.
"Crash!" The silver river reflected the fluctuations of her emotions. The lotus flower emitting the colorful lights suddenly pulsed black and white as if a storm was approaching. 1
"Don't be so flustered. If you act rashly right now, all of your efforts will be wasted." Li Qiye comforted her slowly with a touch of gentleness in his expression.
The princess' pretty eyes were fixated on Li Qiye at this moment. Just her glare alone seemed to be able to pin him to the ground. This intrigued Wo Longxuan and she stared at Li Qiye like a curious child, then back at the princess. Intuition was telling her that they had a story between them, and a woman's intuition was always right.
Li Qiye gently waved his sleeve towards her and said: "Wait outside, we need to talk in private."
Despite being overwhelmed with curiosity, she didn't want to interfere, so she quietly left.
"Chu Yuntian!" The princess stared intensely at him after Wo Longxuan left. The emotions contained in her voice as she called this name were indecipherable, either of hatred or pure apathy.
"It's me." Li Qiye sighed softly and answered. He met her gaze directly.
She continued to stare at this man before her, a man that she had been chasing after her whole life, a man that did not exist. She didn't know what feeling this was. Was it hate or…
"Should I call you Dark Crow or Chu Yuntian?" The princess' voice was cold to the limit, capable of sealing the nine heavens and the sun in a glacier.
Li Qiye turned back into his true form and gently sighed: "It is all in the past. I am neither the Dark Crow nor Chu Yuntian, I am Li Qiye."
"Is that so?" The princess chillingly glared at him with murderous intent: "How many forms do you actually have? Li Qiye for this generation, what about the next?"
"No. There is only one Li Qiye and only one Dark Crow." Li Qiye shook his head.
"What about Chu Yuntian then!" She coldly spoke: "Identities like Chu Yuntian, how many do you have? Dozens, or hundreds?"
Li Qiye spoke with some reluctance: "It was only a misunderstanding that year, I didn't mean to…"
"Misunderstanding?!" The cold princess loudly shouted: "Misunderstanding! You think that it was just a misunderstanding…"
She looked quite agitated at this moment. Her cold demeanor hid traces of unwillingness and resentment…
Li Qiye had no retort. He looked at her and slowly said: "Regardless of the past, I want to congratulate you on finally being able to prolong your life. To be able to see your peerless charm again, it is truly one of the greatest views in the nine worlds."
The princess went silent for a moment. She sat on her lotus and only stared coldly at him. Eventually, she spoke without emotion: "You think it is over with just that?"
Li Qiye met her gaze: "I didn't have that intent back then. One can only say that Mother Nature toys with people."
"So this is Mother Nature's fault?" The princess snorted coldly, perhaps from self-deprecation, then sneered: "You are saying that it was just my one-sided crush, that I asked for it. To chase you from one generation to the next, and in the end, it was only for a scheme!"
Li Qiye paused for a moment. He didn't expect things to unravel the way they did back then.
Li Qiye softly spoke: "You were young back then, just a little girl."
During that time, the Middle Continent Ancient Kingdom was extremely powerful. It could even be said that the Ancient Ming were wary of the kingdom. Unfortunately, it chose to cooperate with the Ancient Ming.
At that time, the dynasty had an extremely heaven-defying item that related to a particular secret. Li Qiye had wanted to destroy the Ancient Ming at that time, but he had far from enough aces in his hands. Moreover, during that generation, the Ancient Ming produced many geniuses, particularly Immortal Emperor Tian Tu who was magnificently brilliant during his youth.
At that time, Li Qiye thought of the dynasty's item. He turned into a young man and created an identity named Chu Yuntian to infiltrate the dynasty.
In fact, he didn't directly meet with the princess back then and only watched her from afar under the moonlight.
She was only a lonely little princess during that period. The king of the Middle Continent Kingdom was an unnaturally strong Godking. However, his ambition was untethered as he made frequent contact with the Ancient Ming.
Despite being from noble birth, the princess was quite lonely with only her shadow for a friend. Their glances under the moonlight made this man named Chu Yuntian leave a deep impression on her.
"Because I was young and naive back then, so you seduced me." The princess sneered while glaring at him.
"I didn't want to do it, you were a good girl." Li Qiye weakly spoke: "I cared about you and didn't want you to walk on the same path as your father."
"So I should be thanking you?" The princess chuckled sarcastically: "Did you worry about me, or did you worry about the location that this silver river was hiding?"
Li Qiye contemplated for a moment before meeting her gaze, deciding to hide nothing: "Yes, I infiltrated the dynasty back then in order to obtain this item. However, I really cared for you as well. You had a three saint aptitude so I hoped that you could go on a different path."
"A path that didn’t block your way, right?" Her cold smile in this moment contained none of the sentiments of one: "If that's what you think, then there's nothing I can do."
Li Qiye freely met her eyes: "If you think that cooperating with the Ancient Ming is the way to go, then there's nothing I can do, we have no need for further discussion. That is my bottom line. Those who cooperate with the Ancient Ming shall be destroyed by me, all of them! It is that simple."
The princess looked at him coldly and spoke: "Yes, you're right, I don't care for that mess relating to the Ancient Ming anyway."
"I knew that you and your father were different, and in the end, you set out on a different path." Li Qiye gently nodded: "If you doubt me, I won't deny it. Later on, when I infiltrated the Ancient Ming, I was aiming for the item. As for my concern for you, that began after I met you."
The princess sneered: "Really now? Were you always so calm like this? All of your words and phrases in your letters, were they written so emotionlessly? Gosh, it seems like the savior of our nine worlds is someone without the slightest defect in character. I was in the wrong, I was the dumb little girl who ruined our lord's great plan, I'm the bad guy!" She finally revealed her resentment!
"No…" Li Qiye spoke softly: "I am not a great man. I admit that when I sent letters to you, there was another objective to it. Outside of caring about you, I really wanted to know the location of the silver river!"
When Li Qiye disguised himself as Chu Yuntian to infiltrate the Middle Continent Kingdom, he managed to enter the most heavily guarded location of the imperial family. His goal was to find the whereabouts of that item.
Due to the limitations of his identity, he couldn't meet the princess face to face and couldn't speak to her. However, the two of them always secretly sent letters to each other.
"Is that it?" The princess responded: "This is all that the words in those letters encompassed? You didn't try to seduce an ignorant girl so that she would fall in love with a person named Chu Yuntian, a person that doesn't even exist?! All just to make her tell you those secrets?!"
"I…" Li Qiye slightly opened his mouth, wanting to say something else, but he stopped while lamenting in his mind.
As the Dark Crow back then, he really didn't want to do so. The princess back then was young and lonely, void of the love of her father or friends. Just like that, a young man who showed concern for her entered her life!
Because of this inadvertent misunderstanding, the princess eventually fell in love with Chu Yuntian, someone who didn't even exist!
Li Qiye slowly said: "Back then, I was only teaching you how to cultivate through those letters."
During their correspondence via letters, Li Qiye became quite close to her. He carefully taught her using those letters since he didn't want her to walk on the same path as her father. Furthermore, it was to leave behind a great spark for the human race because the princess had exceedingly high talents with her three saint aptitudes.
And so, the princess misunderstood his careful guidance as something else and came to love Chu Yuntian. This made her reveal everything to Li Qiye. Later on, when Li Qiye found out and wished to salvage the situation, the misunderstanding had already become too deep.
"Teaching!" The princess shouted loudly again: "Yes, yes, the great teacher of Immortal Emperors guiding me, this is my honor. There is nothing else other than this!"
I would imagine the silver river as a galaxy. ↩Chapter 1020: Secret Of The Past
Li Qiye watched the princess who was very agitated at this moment. The lotus flower pulsed uncontrollably, causing the entire silver river to tremble.
He took a deep breath and looked her in the eyes to say: "Back then, I was completely wrong. It is all my fault. I came today to sincerely apologize."
The princess sat there in silence with an icy demeanor. Who knew what she was thinking.
"Hah." Eventually, she sneered: "Chu Yuntian, I suppose it doesn't matter if you are called Chu Yuntian, Dark Crow, or even Li Qiye! However, I will never believe you, got it?"
Li Qiye stayed silent since he didn't have an answer. This misunderstanding couldn't be resolved with a few words. Otherwise, it wouldn't have lasted for millions of years.
"Sincerity?" The princess laughed: "Back then, who was the one who left the dynasty in secrecy?! I know now that it was because I simply didn't know where this silver river was hidden. To you, I no longer had any value, so you disappeared without a word, leaving behind a girl painfully waiting."
"Unfortunately, this dumb girl still thought that the man named Chu Yuntian would eventually return!" The princess couldn't laugh sarcastically any longer at this point. Her expression was full of unspoken love and hatred.
"There's nothing I can do if you think so." Li Qiye said: "When I left back then, it really was because I couldn't find it. I understood that it was not hidden in your dynasty. Also, it was no longer safe to stay in the dynasty because Tian Tu had started to sharpen his blades against your dynasty."
"Yes, our great teacher of Immortal Emperors has always been correct. No matter the occasion, he would always have very good reasons." The princess mocked sarcastically.
Li Qiye shook his head: "I can only say that you don't know me at all. If I really wanted to disappear, you would never have been able to find me, just like Chu Yuntian. I have always been concerned about your safety. Otherwise, I wouldn't have let someone risk their life to send that message to you so that you would leave the Middle Continent Kingdom!"
The princess' cold eyes lit up after hearing this. She was especially beautiful as she murmured: "That's right, I received a message… to meet at the Plum Blossom Dock!" However, having said that, her expression turned cold again as she glared at him: "But Chu Yuntian never appeared at the dock! Haha, it was just another trick; only a woman named Bu Lianxiang would be dumb enough to believe it!"
"I have no defense against not going." Li Qiye said: "Yes, I was at the Celestial Spirit World at that time. I sent a confidant to message you to meet at Plum Blossom in order to get you far away from the dynasty. The drums of war had sounded by then, a supreme battle was slowly coming. Later on, even if Tian Tu didn't destroy your dynasty, I would have led an army to do so myself."
The princess sneered: "Right, you are the savior, the saint of the nine worlds, saving all of—"
"That's not important." Li Qiye shook his head: "Regardless of how you see me, my bottom line will never change. I will make the Ancient Ming disappear from the nine worlds and destroy anyone who works together with them. Nothing will be able to bar my path. If you think that I would not destroy the dynasty because of you, then you are completely mistaken. I will not make compromises when it comes to my bottom line!" Li Qiye freely said while looking at the princess: "You can view me as a liar, a mass-murderer, or even a savior. You can mock me with disdain, it is all fine. I just want you to know that I can't change my creed for you!"
The princess didn't say anything in response and only sat there with a cold demeanor.
"I didn't care about them, the dynasty or the Ancient Ming!" She became absent-minded and murmured with her head down: "I didn't care to find out about the war!"
With that, she looked up at Li Qiye with a chilling smile: "But you still lied to me in the end, hahaha… There was a message that Chu Yuntian was dead… It was only a message. I didn't see his corpse or any of his belongings. I never even saw his shadow, yet I was so foolish as to search for him for the rest of my life. I wanted to find out where he died, where he was buried, who killed him. I even wanted to avenge him…"
With that, her eyes became wet, but she maintained her strong tone: "Only a foolish girl would believe in someone who doesn't exist. Because of this scam, she entered the Heavenly Corpse Burial Ground to become an Earth Immortal! She simply wished for the day that she could find Chu Yuntian's remains!" A teardrop finally dripped down from the corner of her eyes.
"Yes, it was just a plan." Li Qiye helplessly said: "Back then, in order to find Chu Yuntian, you chased my generals all over the world! In order to end this needless search, I had to make Chu Yuntian disappear. However, I didn't expect that you would still want to find where he was buried!"
"Chu Yuntian, no, Dark Crow, or should I call you Li Qiye now… You have always been a liar!" The princess sneered: "If you weren't one, you should have just told me the truth!"
Li Qiye stayed quiet for a long time before looking at her and nodded his head: "Yes, I am a liar. All of the fault lies with me, so I came to resolve this today."
"Haha, what now? Even the great teacher doesn't know how to defend himself?" The princess coldly laughed.
Li Qiye stared at her in a serious manner and calmly said: "There's no need since there is no reason to be defensive. I am here right now."
She fiercely stared at him for a long time: "Aren't you always good at twisting the truth? Don't you always scheme and plan? Well, I want to hear your defense, give me an excuse right now!"
Li Qiye looked at her and paused for a bit. Eventually, he softly sighed and answered: "After your Middle Continent Kingdom was destroyed, there was no one else to keep Tian Tu in check. He wanted to capture me alive since he was aware of my secrets and wanted to take the items in my memories…"
"… So, I could only hide behind the scenes. I made my legions disappear from the nine worlds. I was biding my time to deliver a fatal blow to the Ancient Ming. Thus, I had to disappear during that period. The moment I showed myself, Tian Tu would have come killing and annihilated us." Li Qiye sighed again at this point.
In fact, this was not just a justification. At that time, the situation really was as he described. He ordered several attacks against Immortal Emperor Tian Tu, but they were all unsuccessful and his generals suffered major losses. The most regrettable part to him was that if the Middle Continent Kingdom stood by his side at the beginning of that generation, or if Immortal Emperor Tian Tu didn't exist in this world, the Ancient Ming wouldn't have been powerful enough to rule the nine worlds and flourish for many generations.
"Haha, even our unbeatable great teacher had to hide at times?" She mocked.
To which he responded: "I have not always been unbeatable. The Ancient Ming was indeed very powerful. Tian Tu himself was an incredible Immortal Emperor. In that generation, I had no way of destroying the Ancient Ming and killing Tian Tu. I can only say that I wasn't strong enough then."
"No matter what, as long as I can live on, I will be able to get through tough times. Perseverance will yield victory eventually." Li Qiye slowly said.
Back when the Ancient Ming was at its most powerful state under Tian Tu, it was not an easy time for the nine worlds, the human race, and even him who would eventually become the teacher of Immortal Emperors. The enemy was simply too strong!
The princess thought quietly about that time. She was someone who had lived through that era and knew of its darkness, that it wasn't an easy period.
"It must have been very hard." Just thinking about the nine worlds under the Ancient Ming's rule and the incomparable Immortal Emperor Tian Tu, the princess suddenly became absent-minded and actually blurted out such gentle words.
Looking back over the years, Li Qiye softly sighed: "It was bearable. I let my legions hide in the most dangerous locations. There had been tougher times before Tian Tu, so we were used to it, it didn't matter too much."
Eventually, the princess looked up and exclaimed: "Anyway, no matter what kind of excuses you have, this doesn't change the fact that you are still a liar!"
"I know that I am a liar in your mind." Li Qiye nodded solemnly: "Since I was in the wrong, I wanted to resolve this issue." He continued on while looking into her eyes: "I have obtained my true body in this generation and I want to fight to the very end, so I must finish my unresolved business. Why did I come to the Heavenly Corpse Burial Ground to find you? Was it just for the Yin Yang Immortal Mirror? The truth is that I could have traded other people for imperial weapons at that place."
"I looked for you specifically since I wanted you to know the truth!" He stared deeply into her eyes.